Multi-state settlement calls for loan servicer to cancel $1.7 billion in debt for 66,000 borrowers.
to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who led the suit. Navient will pay $95 million in direct restitution to student borrowers and $142 million to the various attorneys general for them to spend on state initiatives.
"Navient repeatedly and deliberately put profits ahead of its borrowers – it engaged in deceptive and abusive practices, targeted students who it knew would struggle to pay loans back, and placed an unfair burden on people trying to improve their lives through education," Shapiro said in a statement.
"The company's decision to resolve these matters, which were based on unfounded claims, allows us to avoid the additional burden, expense, time and distraction to prevail in court," Navient Chief Legal Officer Mark Heleen said in a statement."Navient is and has been continually focused on helping student loan borrowers understand and select the right payment options to fit their needs.